“Questions on Spirituality—Ask Swami Mukundananda”
Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned spiritual teacher from India, and is
the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj and founder of JK Yog.
He has received his degrees in engineering from world renowned institutes in
India, IIT and IIM. He has inspired people all over the world on the path of
spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to society and God
realization. This year, Swamiji will be conducting weeklong programs in 30+
cities of USA from April onwards. For more information visit:
http://www.jkyog.org/
It is said that once Socrates was pondering over philosophic truths and walking
absent-mindedly on the street, when he bumped into someone. The man
asked annoyedly, “Can you not see where you are walking? Who are you?”
Socrates replied nonchalantly, “My dear friend, I have been pondering over
that question for the last forty years, and have still not found the answer. If
you have any tips to offer, do let me know.”
We may have never pondered as deeply as Socrates, but surely at some point
of time in our lives we have asked ourselves the same question, “Who am I”?
Am I a lady, a man, a father, a businessman, an American, an Indian? What is
my true identity?
Swami Mukundananda says that when we ask the question, “Who am I,” we
begin our quest for spiritual knowledge. This is the first step. The Bhagavad
Gita says in this regard:
kshetra kshetragyo jnanam…
“To understand the difference between the body and the knower of the body
is wisdom.” This wisdom is imparted to us by the Vedic scriptures that inform
us: The body is not you; it is like a house in which you reside, or like clothes
that you wear. You are the eternal soul seated within it. The body is made
from matter, and hence it is perishable, but you are the soul which is
indivisible, impartial, eternal, nirgun (formless), divine, and hence immortal.
However we constantly identify ourselves with our body and even if we
intellectually understand that we are soul and not this body, we mistakenly
perceive that the soul resides within us. But the truth is that neither is the soul
within us, nor are we in the soul. We are the soul that is seated within the
body. The Vedic scriptures state that the atma, or soul, resides in the heart
though it is not physically bound to the heart, and we are that atma.
Once this truth of our identity is realized, naturally a lot of other questions also
come up like what is our relation with our body and how does our inner
apparatus of mind and intellect function? Swami Mukundanada has addressed
these questions in very simple words for both spiritual aspirants and
knowledge seekers.
Question: What is consciousness? How is it different from the soul?
SM: “Consciousness” is the symptom of life that is manifested by the soul. It is
not the soul itself; rather, it is a quality of the soul. This is just as heat and light
are manifestations of the fire, but by themselves, they are not the fire.
Everything that exists is verily the energy of God. However, it is not all
consciousness. Matter is “insentient” or devoid of consciousness, while the
soul is “sentient” or possessing consciousness. This is an important distinction
between the soul and matter.
Apart from having consciousness itself, the soul also has the ability to impart
consciousness to matter, when it associates with it. Just as “a flower carries
aroma itself, and the garden where it grows also becomes aromatic by its
presence.”
Likewise, the soul is sentient, and by its presence, it makes the dead matter
of the body sentient as well. As long as the soul resides in the body, the senses,
organs and limbs, all display signs of life. Upon death, when the soul departs,
the body is dead matter once again.
Question: What is mind if it is not the soul or the brain?
SM: The mind is a subtle machine provided along with the body to the soul. It
is such a machine that continuously generates thoughts, feelings, ideas,
perceptions, and stores knowledge and memories.
The brain is not the mind. The brain is the hardware that the mind uses for
its functioning. Someone’s brain may get damaged, but the mind may still
continue functioning normally. The brain is made from the gross elements –
earth, water, fire, air, space. On the other hand, the mind is subtler than these
gross elements. The Bhagavad Gita states:
Bhoomuraponlo vayuh kham…
“Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego, are various
constituents of my material energy, Maya.” Here, Shree Krishna has
enumerated the mind as separate from the five gross elements. Modern
science has some idea of the nature of the gross brain, but is yet to
comprehend the functioning of the subtle mind.
The mind is thus distinct from the brain. Nevertheless, in figure of speech,
often when we say “the mind,” it refers together to the mind and the brain.
Question: How does the soul communicate with the elements in our body?
Where is the connection between the body and the soul?
SM: The soul communicates with the body by energizing it with the force of
life, or consciousness. Its presence makes the intellect, mind and body work.
As already mentioned the soul is sentient, and by its presence, it makes the
dead matter of the body sentient as well.
Now the reverse communication – how does the body communicate with the
soul? The link between the material body and the spiritual soul is established
by the ego. In the materially conditioned state, the first covering on the soul is
of the ego. The word for ego in Sanskrit is asmita, which means “that which is
not.” This ego creates a false identity for the soul. Due to it, the soul is under
the illusion that it is the body, mind and intellect.
In this illusion that it is the body, the soul identifies with the pleasures and
pains of the body. When the senses come in contact with the sense objects,
they experience fleeting pleasure. Under the illusion that it is the body, the
soul too experiences this pleasure. However, the experience does not satisfy
the soul, which can only be satisfied by Divine Bliss. So the search for pleasure
continues.
This is how the two-way communication between the soul and the bodymind-intellect works.
Question: What are the activities of the soul in the body? Is the soul simply
God's "overseer" in each body with no administrative duties?
SM: To enable us to comprehend the administrative position of the soul in the
body, the Vedas give the analogy of a chariot:
Atmanam Rathinam viddhi… (Kathopanishad)
The Upanishads say there is a chariot; this chariot has got five horses pulling
it; the horses have reins in their mouths; the reins are in the hands of a
charioteer; a passenger is sitting at the back of the chariot.
In this analogy:
 the chariot is the body
 the horses are the five senses
 the reins in the mouth of the horses is the mind
 the charioteer is the intellect
 the passenger seated behind is the soul residing in the body
Ideally, the passenger should give directions to the charioteer, who should
pull the reins accordingly and guide the horses in the proper direction.
However in this case, the passenger, or the soul is asleep, and so the chariot is
going awry:
 The senses (horses) desire to see, taste, touch, feel and smell various
things.
 The mind (reins), rather than controlling the senses, supports their
desires.
 The intellect (charioteer), instead of directing where to go, submits to
the pulls of the senses.
 Seated on this chariot, the soul (passenger) is moving around in this
material world since eternity.
So in the materially bound state the soul does not perform any
administrative functions because it has surrendered the control of the chariot.
It merely experiences the pleasures of the mind and senses vicariously, by
identifying with the bodily elements. And because of its inherent nature to
seek the divine bliss of God, it perceives the dissatisfaction from bodily
pleasures.
However, if the soul wakes up and decides to take a proactive role, it can
inspire the intellect in the right direction. The intellect will then govern the
mind, the mind will control the senses, and the chariot will move in the
direction of eternal welfare.
Question: According to Bhagavad Gita 13.30, 13.32, the mind and body do
the work, not the soul, which is akarmi, only a witness. If we (souls) do not
do anything, then why do we have to suffer for all bad karmas and travel
through 8.4 million species?
SM: The soul by itself is not the doer of actions. However, it has been given a
body-mind-intellect mechanism by God. These are all made from inert matter,
and it is the soul that inspires life into them by its presence. Hence, it is
responsible for the actions performed by the body in which it is housed.
This is just as when you sit in a car and drive it, you are responsible for its
motion. If the car were to have an accident, the law would not hold the tires,
steering wheel, accelerator or ignition switch responsible for it. It would be
your responsibility, since you were the driver within. Similarly, the soul seated
within the body is held responsible for all the actions of the body-mind
mechanism that has been given to it.
There is a story on responsibility in the Puranas. A king had gone for war on
his chariot. While returning from a successful combat, a child got crushed
under the wheels of the chariot. The king said, “O Charioteer! You are
responsible for this death, since you were driving it at great speed.” The
charioteer said, “O King! You are responsible for this death, not me. The
credit of the successful combat has gone to you, and so the sin is also yours.”